Pumpkin Time
by Skyrocket
Summary: An immortal man steps out of legend and into Sunnydale.


Pumpkin Time ****

Pumpkin Time

Continuity Note: This takes place sometime during season three

"Prepare to die, Slayer!" howled the vampire as it charged.

"Sorry, but you don't get to kill me until you find a line I haven't heard before," retorted Buffy as she dodged, whirled and drove a stake into her attacker's back. The cliché-prone vampire exploded in a cloud of dust. 

Tonight had started out as a typical October night for Buffy. She been out patrolling, looking for whatever piece of nastiness the Hellmouth had seen fit loose on Sunnydale that night, when she'd heard noises coming from one of the local cemeteries. 

To Buffy's mild surprise, the noise had turned out to be half dozen vampires. It was less than a week until Halloween. That was generally a time when most things that went bump in the night crawled under a rock for awhile, giving humanity much needed break from being preyed upon by the forces of darkness. 

__

Looks like someone forgot to check their calendars, mused Buffy as she turned to face the five remaining vampires.

"She killed Desmond! Rip her apart!" shouted one of the vamps. Immediately her cohorts complied.

One vampire charged Buffy and received a hard kick to the stomach for her trouble. The next aimed a vicious roundhouse at the Slayer's chin, but she blocked and hit her attacker with left hook that sent him stumbling back and over a gravestone.

Then, guided by what Xander called her 'Slayer-sense' and what Giles called 'training', Buffy jabbed her stake backwards, impaling the vamp that had been trying to grab her from behind. 

"One down, four to go," assessed the Slayer as she turned back to face the rest of the vampires. It was then something hard connected with Buffy's head, causing her to see stars.

"Way to go, Bernice! You really nailed her with that rock!" Buffy heard one of the creatures shout as she struggled to clear her head.

Her vision had just stopped swimming when Buffy felt someone tackle her. She looked up to see the female vampire, presumably Bernice, trying to drive her fangs into her neck. "I've dreamed of tasting the blood of a Slayer!" proclaimed the vamp. "Yours shall be the sweetest blood I've ever tasted!

"Eeeuuu, stink breath!" wretched Buffy as she tried to hold Bernice's fangs at bay. "Don't you know that you're supposed to brush after every high school student?" 

Though she was greeting the situation with her customary glibness, Buffy knew she was in dire straits. Her stake was out of reach and the three remaining vamps were closing in to finish her off should Bernice fail. _The cavalry would be good right about now_, thought Buffy as Bernice drew closer. 

Just then an orange blur connected with the vampire's head, knocking her off the trapped Slayer. "Get away from her, you monster!" shouted someone.

Buffy looked up to see a tall, lanky man with dark hair standing over her. He wore hiking boots, dark blue jeans, a heavy black flannel shirt and a backpack and appeared to be in his late twenties. In his left had he carried a large orange camping lantern. In the other a sharp wooden stake. 

Whoever the newcomer was the vamps wasted no time in attacking him. One charged the man only to be clocked on the chin with the stranger's lantern. The second managed to hit him in the stomach, sending the stranger stumbling back.

Buffy, unable to spare her savior more than a glance, jumped to her feet and grabbed her stake just in time to met the third vamp as he closed in on her.

While she traded blows with her current opponent Buffy heard the telltale sound of a vampire disintegrating after being staked. _Okay, so whoever this guy is it's probably not his first run-in with the suckfaces_, she though. Whether or not that was a good thing Buffy wasn't sure.

Just then the vamp she was fighting left a small opening in his guard. Buffy happily took advantage of that by slamming her stake into his heart. She immediately whirled to check on her newfound allie. Bernice had the stranger in a headlock while the other vamp was preparing a nasty haymaker. 

"This'll teach you to ruin my meal, fleshbag!" shouted Bernice. "After I drain that Slayer you're desert!" The stranger lashed out with a kick to the gut that knocked the attacking vamp onto his back.

Bernice was so enraged that she didn't even notice Buffy until the Slayer had run up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Surprised, Bernice whipped around just in time to see the grin on Buffy's face as her stake pierced the vamp's chest.

"How do you like the taste of that, Ms. Sweettooth?" smirked the blonde girl.

"Suh..sweet?" stammered Bernice before she turned to dust.

Meanwhile, having been freed of Bernice, the stranger was going one-on-one with the remaining vamp. As Buffy rushed to his aid the stranger again swung his lantern, this time connecting with the vampire's left kneecap. With a howl of pain the undead monster fell to its knees.

"Sayonara!" hissed the man as he pounced on the creature and finished it off with his stake. 

"Are you okay?" asked Buffy as she helped him to his feet.

"I'm fine," nodded the stranger as he put his stake into a pocket and ran a hand though his hair. "Nothing like vampires to ruin a nice night's walk."

"Tell me about it," sighed the Slayer. "I'm Buffy by the way. So how did you--" Buffy stopped short as she spotted the wound on the stranger's arm. His shirt had been ripped and there was a series of bloody claw marks going down his forearm. 

The stranger glanced at his arm with a strangely nonplused look. "Damn. This was a new shirt." 

"You need to get that treated before gets all infected and gross," warned Buffy. "The hospital isn't that far from here. I'll make sure--" The Slayer's eyes again turned to the man's arm but stopped short at what she saw. Slowly, but perceptively, the stranger's skin was knitting itself back together.

Buffy immediately backed away, grabbed her stake and assumed a defensive stance. "I'm no Dr. Ross, but in my medical opinion that's not normal. So unless you want to become intimately familiar with Mr. Pointy here, you'd better start with the 411." 

The strange raised his arms slowly and tried to assume a disarming smile. "Hey, hey, relax," he said. "You don't need to stake me. Not that you wouldn't be somewhat in the right. It just wouldn't do you any good." 

"Why don't I be the judge of that?" snapped Buffy as she took a step forward. "Now say something useful or I'll put this stake someplace you really won't like."

"Very well." Then, with a magician's flourish, the man waved his right arm and a business card appeared in his hand. "My card," smiled the stranger as he held it out to Buffy.

__

Demons with business cards? Always something new here at the Hellmouth, mused the Slayer as she took the card. On it was the name "Jack" printed in large bold letters and a picture of a smiling pumpkin.

"Cute," commented Buffy. "Okay, 'Jack,' care to tell me how you pulled a T-1000 with your arm?"

"'Cute?' I was hoping for ironic," muttered Jack. Buffy gave him a withering look. "All right, all right. The _Reader's Digest_ version is that I'm immortal. After a fashion." 

"Immortal?" asked Buffy skeptically.

"Yes, Immortal," confirmed Jack. "I was born four hundred years ago in the Highlands of Scotland. I am Immortal and I am--" 

"Sorry, MacLeod, I've seen that movie."

"Damn," grumbled Jack. "You'd be amazed at how many people still fall for that.

Look, Slayer, I'm not the bad guy here. In case you forgot, I just saved you from being vampire kibble a minute ago. Now just put down the stake and we can talk like rational people."

"What's a Slayer?" asked Buffy coolly. Knowledge of vampires and the Slayer was not common among normal people. But then Jack hardly seemed like a normal person.

"Don't insult my intelligence," replied Jack. "You don't find many girls out there unafraid to take on a half dozen vampires who aren't Slayers. And you find even fewer of them living in towns on top of a Hellmouth."

"Okay, you saved me, so I guess I owe you the benefit of the doubt," said Buffy as she put the stake back in her jacket. "But one funny move and you get a pine enema."

"What a lovely image," muttered Jack as he picked up his lantern. "Look, it's getting pretty close to dawn. I'd say the undead are though making this town their personal buffet for one night. How about I walk you home? We can talk on the way."

Buffy made an amused noise. If there was one person in Sunnydale who didn't need and escort home, it was Buffy Summers. But there was still the matter of finding out who Jack was and whether he was friend or foe.

"Okay," agreed Buffy. "This way, but don't get to close. Trust me, I'm one girl whose personal space you don't want to invade."

~*~*~*~*~

A few minutes later Buffy and Jack were on California Road heading back to the Summers' residence. Buffy was keeping a wary eye on Jack, but the self-proclaimed immortal seemed more interested in the scenery. 

"Can you smell that?" Jack asked as he took a deep breath. "I can almost taste autumn in the air. Even better it's almost Halloween. Pumpkin time. The one time of the year when even the undead are willing to call a time out."

Buffy rolled her eyes. _Cornball much_? she thought. If Jack saw this he gave no indication. He was busy checking his lantern for dents.

"You don't need that lantern, you know," said Buffy. "For all the good they do, Sunnydale does have street lights."

"Sorry," apologized Jack as he returned his attention to Buffy. "It's just that the old girl and I have been together for a long time. It's not as good as my old one, but we all have to upgrade at some point. Still, there've been times when my lantern has been the only person I could call a friend."

_Someone needs to socialize more_, mused the Slayer. "So, Mr. I-can't-die, care to share with the rest of the class how you got be that way?"

"Actually, I'd rather not."

"I could always have Mr. Pointy ask you."

Jack gave Buffy a rather nasty look. "I guess I don't have a choice," he sighed. "Once upon a time there was a farmer named Jack. Jack was a lazy man but he was also very clever. One day the Devil came to Jack and offered to buy his soul in exchange for one wish. But Jack, clever fellow that he was, managed to trick the Devil. He got his wish and still keep his soul."

Buffy's eyes narrowed as she looked at Jack. "Let me guess. Jack wished for immortality."

At that the dark-haired man just laughed. "No, Jack was smarter than that. But it wasn't until many years later that Jack realized that his wish came with a sideffect. A sideffect that would leave Jack cursed to wonder the earth for all time. Realizing what a fool he had been to ever deal with the Devil, Jack went out into the world to fight the evil he had once consorted with."

"So is that why you're in Sunnydale?" asked Buffy. "All the evil you want, no waiting." 

"No, I'm just passing though here on my way to Los Angeles. L.A. has plenty of evil to go around, but I couldn't resist the chance to have a look at the infamous Sunnydale. Besides, from what I saw back in the cemetery, this town seems to be in good hands." 

"Sometimes I miss L.A.," admitted Buffy. "Swimming pools, movie stars, no Hellmouth."

"It's a one of kind town," nodded Jack. "You know, Los Angeles is called 'the city of angels.' Sounds like a place where ol' Jack just may find his salvation."

"Salvation?"

Jack suddenly stopped and looked up at the night sky. "Try to understand, Buffy. I've been condemned to walk the earth for over four hundred years. The only thing I can think to do is fight against evil and hope and pray that someday, someone upstairs will take pity on poor ol' Jack and end my wonderings."

"Bummer," said Buffy. "This Slayer gig may suck sometimes, but at least it's not a four hundred year contract. Of course, it's not a live-to-a-ripe-old-age deal either."

"True," agreed Jack as the two resumed walking. "But immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be either. Sure, if I bleed I'll heal. But living forever doesn't make finding happiness any easier."

The two then walked in silence for several blocks. It was Jack who spoke first. "You're not the first Slayer I've met, you know." 

At that Buffy's ears perked up. "Really? When was the last time you met a Slayer?" The lives (and deaths) of other Slayers were always of interest to her.

"Almost twenty years ago," began Jack. "At the time the Slayer was a Japanese girl by the name of Natsumi. She and I destroyed a pack of Oni, a sort of Japanese demon, who had been running amok in Tokyo. 

A few months afterwards I learned that she'd been killed by a rather nasty vampire lord named Lothos."

Just the very mention of that name sent a chill down Buffy's spine. Lothos had been the first extremely dangerous vampire she'd had ever run across. Lothos was also the one who killed Merrick, her first Watcher. "Well, from what I hear, Lothos is out of the Slayer killing business. Or the killing anyone else business. Forever."

More silence as the two walked. This time it was Buffy who broke the silence. "I guess I should thank you for the save back there. If you hadn't shown up my next outfit might have been on of those ickey dresses they bury people in."

"It was nothing," said Jack. "Besides, I'm the one who should thank you, Buffy."

"For what?"

"I know that you're the one who killed Lothos. After I heard what he'd done to Natsumi I spent years searching for him but was never able to find the bastard. I just hope Natsumi can rest easier now that Lothos can no longer plague humanity."

"So I take it you and her were close?" Buffy wondered if Jack and the other Slayer had been close the way she and Angel had been.

Something on her face must have betrayed Buffy's thoughts because Jack gave her an amused grin. "Yes, Natsumi and I were very close, but not in the way you're probably thinking." Buffy blushed slightly. 

Jack's demeanor changed as he seemed to perk up a bit and wistful tone suffused his voice. "Even though we only knew each other for a few months, Natsumi and I became very good friends. Despite the fact that she knew who and what I was, she was willing to treat me as a person and offered me the gift of friendship. For that I will always be grateful to her."

Jack then fixed Buffy with a serious look. "Finding true friends is a rare thing in this world, Buffy. It's ever rarer for people like us."

Buffy nodded solemnly at Jack's words. "I have some friends like that. Without them I'd have died or gone wiggy years ago." 

Buffy stopped as she noticed that they were right in front of her house. There were no lights on and all seemed quite. 

"Looks like this is your stop," assessed Jack as he put down his lantern and held out his hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Buffy. I really think you've got what it takes to be a first-rate Slayer. I'm sure Natsumi and the others would be proud."

"Thanks, Jack," smiled Buffy she shook the immortal man's hand. "You want to come in for a soda or something? We've got some of those puffed cheese thingies."

"I appreciate the offer, but I have to get moving," said Jack as he picked up his lantern and turned it on. "Miles to go before I sleep, no rest for the wicked and all that other good stuff." 

Buffy nodded in understanding. "See you, Jack. If you're ever this way again, drop by. This town could always use someone who's handy with a stake."

"Maybe someday. Look, before I go, would you like a piece of advice from a four hundred year old man?" 

"Sure," shrugged Buffy. "You're Dear Abby and I'm Confused in Cincinnati."

Jack smiled briefly at Buffy's joke but his face soon turned serious. "Those friends of yours you mentioned. Treasure them, Buffy. Not just because having someone to watch your back will keep you alive longer. Treasure them because friends keep the loneliness at bay. Loneliness is a terrible thing, almost as bad the Hellmouth, and it's a constant companion to people like us."

Buffy was taken aback by how hollow Jack's voice had turned as he spoke. Clearly loneliness was something Jack was intimately familiar with.

"Thanks for the advice," she said softly. 

Jack merely nodded, gave Buffy one last smile and then headed into the night. Buffy watched him go until his lantern's light disappeared.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sunnydale High School, the next day

"Hey, sensai, your grasshopper is here," called Buffy as she entered the school library. 

"Ah, Buffy. You're on time for our training session. How wonderfully refreshing," said Giles as stepped out of his office. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. I believe I've found some information on that Jack fellow you told me about this morning."

"Oh, gossip," cooed Buffy. "What'd you find out? No, let me guess. He's really the Lindbergh baby, right?"

Giles sighed in the way that only an Englishman talking to teenage American girl can. "No, Buffy, he is not the Lindbergh baby. In fact, I believe he may very well have been the legendary Jack O'Lantern."

"So you're saying the guy I met last night was really the Great Pumpkin?" asked Buffy sarcastically.

Giles furrowed his eyebrows as he always did when Buffy said something that made no sense to him. Much to his annoyance that was almost everyday. "I'm sorry, Great Pumpkin?"

"Pop culture reference. Nevermind."

Deciding not to purse the matter Giles pulled out one of his beloved books and opened it to the appropriate page. "As I was saying, I believe the fellow you met may have been a man named Jack O'Lantern. There are several variations on the story but they all go something like this."

Giles took a moment to adjust his glasses and clear his throat before he been reading. Buffy suspected he'd done it just for dramatic affect. "There once was a farmer named Jack who was both very lazy and very quick-witted. One day, the Devil came to Jack to tempt him, but Jack tricked the Devil into climbing a tree."

"Somehow I have trouble picturing the Price of Darkness up a tree like some old lady's cat," interrupted Buffy.

"This is a folk story," noted Giles. "I think it would be rather unwise to take everything it says literally. The fact remains that Jack managed to trick the Devil, or some being calling itself the Devil, into a rather nasty spot." 

The Englishman again began to read. "The Devil could not climb down and asked Jack for help. "On one condition," Jack replied. "That you not allow me into hell." 

Part of last night's conversation flashed back to Buffy.

__

"Let me guess. Jack wished for immortality."

"No, Jack was smarter than that."

"I guess maybe he was," murmured the Slayer.

Giles hadn't noticed Buffy's lapse of attention and was still reading. "The Devil could not very well refuse, so he grudgingly agreed and Jack helped him down. As everyone does, eventually Jack died. He went straight to hell, but the Devil kept his word, and would not let him in. Jack ventured to Heaven, but he had been such a sinner during his life they would not let him in Heaven either. So Jack hollowed out one of his gourds and made a lantern from it. Even now he wanders the face of the world, trying to find somewhere he can stay..."

"Wow, and I thought Jack o'Lanterns were just a cute shape for Halloween candy," commented Buffy.

"The idea of a man using a hollowed out gourd did evolve into what we know today as the Jack o'Lantern," explained Giles "Still, it is interesting that when you saw him he was carrying a orange camping lantern."

Buffy's mind again turned back to her enigmatic conversation with Jack. "_It's just that the old girl and I have been together for a long time. It's not as good as my old one, but we all have to upgrade at some point. Still, there've been times when my lantern has been the only person I could call a friend_."

"Maybe he just decided to upgrade," shrugged the Slayer. "Even in California a guy carrying around a glowing pumpkin would attraction attention." 

Giles merely hhhmmed.

"Giles, do you remember me telling you what Jack said about trying to make up for what he'd done? Do you think he'll ever be able to get his curse lifted?"

A serious look crossed the Watcher's face. From experience Buffy knew this wasn't good. "I really can't say, Buffy. Jack died and was sent to Hell which, technically, makes him a damned soul."

"And why he said I'd be 'in the right' if I tried to get Tarantino on him," realized Buffy. 

"Quite," nodded Giles. "It may also explain why he chose to come to Sunnydale. The desire to met the Slayer may have been part of it, but I would be surprised if the siren's call of the Hellmouth wasn't also a factor."

"You didn't answer my question," reminded Buffy. "Do you think Jack will have to walk the earth forever?"

Giles was beginning to look uncomfortable. "I really don't think it's my place to speculate. Jack led a sinful life, dealt with the Devil, and was sent to Hell for it. Only because of his own cleverness is he not burning in the Inferno right now."

A pained look crossed Buffy's face. The man she had met last night didn't strike her as the type deserving eternal damnation.

Giles caught her expression and smiled in that fatherly way he had when Buffy was upset. "Do cheer up, Buffy. While Jack may currently be in limbo between Heaven and Hell, I can't say that he will always be that way. All the world's great religions speak of repentance and forgiveness. Perhaps someday Jack will find his salvation."

Buffy managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Giles. If this Watcher gig ever falls though maybe you should get your own talk show. You could be like Oprah but with a funny accent."

The ringing of the phone in his office interrupted Giles's rather droll retort. "I'll just take care of this and then we can begin training," sighed the Englishman as he turned and headed for the phone.

Buffy turned and noticed the light streaming in from the library windows. Outside she knew it was a beautiful sunny day. 

"Good luck, Jack," she whispered. "I hope you find your salvation."

****

The End

Author's Notes: Well that's my first Buffy story, I hope you enjoyed it. I do have ideas for more Buffy stories so stay tuned.

  * The legend of Jack o'Lantern isn't something I just made up. It's an old folk tale that I believe comes from Ireland. One of the more interesting versions of the story has Jack making his lantern from a large turnip. How'd you like to have one of those sitting on your porch every year? ;)
  * I'd like to thank Yona for beta-reading this for me. Your advice was invaluable.
  * In Japanese the name Natsumi means "summer beauty." I chose that name since it sounded a bit like Summers. 
  * Buffy and all things related to it belong to the WB. The story and this version of Jack belong to me. Don't bother suing. I'm just a poor college student who watches too much TV.


End file.
